Women In The Workplace: A Whole New Ball Game

Last weekend, Sky Sports presenters, Andy Gray and Richard Keys found themselves in hot water after off-air recordings of sexist comments made about female lineswoman, Sian Massey, found their way into the hands of the Daily Mail newspaper.

Leaving aside the rights or wrongs of the resultant departures of Gray and Keys from Sky this week, the whole affair has brought one very interesting debate to the fore: that of the role of women in the workplace and how they are treated compared to men.

Women have come a long way as successful professionals and life in the workplace has become much more diversified as an increased number of women have made their presence felt in many industries and professions. Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK workforce was made up of 12.7 million men and 12.3 million women.

Football, seen for so long as the preserve of men, may have a tendency to drag its feet in terms of coming up to speed with the conventions and expectations of wider society, but it was inevitable that it should start moving with the times eventually. Some men may struggle with the concept of a female lineswoman or board member, but that's the way it is. It's called progression.

where are we now?

While the underlying reason for the increase of women at work seems to be for financial purposes, many women are penetrating the workforce and climbing the corporate ladder purely because of ambition and for personal fulfilment. In the case of Massey, refereeing isn't the most financially-rewarding gig in the world, but the 25-year-old has a proven passion and competence for her job, and a love for the game of football. Most importantly, because she operates in what is perceived as a man's industry, she's had to work pretty bloody hard to get where she is — so it seems fairly ludicrous for anyone to judge her on the basis of her sex alone as Gray and Keys did to their cost recently.

It's over 35 years since the Sex Discrimination and Race Relations Act were introduced in Britain back in the mid-seventies, but the unfortunate truth is that when it comes to factors such as sex and race, discrimination in the workplace is still alive — it's just that nowadays it tends to be a lot more discreet. Though not always...